On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.

The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight

Gifted storyteller Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, has written the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight: Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring military raids and survival at sea, and will appeal to fans of Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys.

Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo

In 1968, a small, dilapidated American spy ship set out on a dangerous mission to pinpoint military radar stations along the coast of North Korea. Packed with advanced surveillance equipment and classified intelligence documents, the USS Pueblo was poorly armed and lacked backup by air or sea. Its crew, led by a charismatic, hard-drinking, ex-submarine officer named Pete Bucher, was made up mostly of untested sailors in their teens and twenties.

Last Stand at Khe Sanh: The US Marines’ Finest Hour in Vietnam

The vivid, fast-paced account of the siege of Khe Sanh told through the eyes of the men who lived it. For seventy-seven days in 1968, amid fears that America faced its own disastrous Dien Bien Phu, six thousand US Marines held off thirty thousand North Vietnamese Army regulars at the remote mountain stronghold called Khe Sanh. It was the biggest battle of the Vietnam War, with sharp ground engagements, devastating artillery duels, and massive US air strikes.

How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity

Modernity developed only in the West - in Europe and North America. Nowhere else did science and democracy arise; nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, why? Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But acclaimed author Rodney Stark provides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization.

Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal

With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal.

For years, The Great Courses has taken lifelong learners on stirring explorations of our ancient roots; ones that bring you face to face with what history means, and how we use it to understand both the past and the present. So where's the best place to start? Right here with this eclectic and insightful collection of 36 lectures curated from our most popular ancient history courses.

Ghosts of Bungo Suido

In late 1944, America’s recapture of the Philippines is jeopardized by what seems an insurmountable threat from Japan: immense Yamato-class battleships, which dwarf every other ship at sea. Built in total secrecy, these 76,000-ton warships seem invincible. American military intelligence knows of two such ships, but there are rumors of a third, built not as a battleship but as an aircraft carrier. Now ready to go operational from Japan’s heavily defended and mined Inland Sea, a carrier of that size could disrupt the entire invasion effort.

The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)

There are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway. At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever. In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds, paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice.

Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans

Best-selling author Brian Fagan brings early humans out of the deep freeze with his trademark mix of erudition, cutting-edge science, and vivid storytelling. Cro-Magnon reveals human society in its infancy, facing enormous environmental challenges - including a rival species of humans, the Neanderthals. For ten millennia, Cro-Magnons lived side by side with Neanderthals, an encounter that Fagan fills with drama.

The Modern Scholar: Tolkien and the West: Recovering the Lost Tradition of Europe

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien are quite possibly the most widely read pieces of literature written in the 20th century. But as Professor Michael Drout illuminates in this engaging course of lectures, Tolkien's writings are built upon a centuries-old literary tradition that developed in Europe and is quite uniquely Western in its outlook and style. Drout explores how that tradition still resonates with us to this day, even if many Modernist critics would argue otherwise. He begins the course with the allegory of a tower....

The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945

This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."

Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe

We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Not even some of the greatest geniuses in history, as Mario Livio tells us in this marvelous story of scientific error and breakthrough. Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein were all brilliant scientists. Each made groundbreaking contributions to his field - but each also stumbled badly. These five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth itself, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. As Mario Livio luminously explains, the scientific process advances through error.

America: Imagine a World Without Her

Is America a source of pride, as Americans have long held, or shame, as Progressives allege? Beneath an innocent exterior, are our lives complicit in a national project of theft, expropriation, oppression, and murder? Or is America still the hope of the world? New York Times best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza says these questions are no mere academic exercise.

Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II

Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey.

This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen.

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies. Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds.

Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck

A stunning look at World War II from the other side.... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front - von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman.

Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway - The Great Naval Battles Seen Through Japanese Eyes

This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain.

Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story

This landmark study was first published in English by the Naval Institute in 1955. Widely acknowledged for its valuable Japanese insights into the battle that turned the tide of war in the Pacific, the book has made a great impact on American readers over the years. Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the operation provide an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat.

How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle

In 1991, the United States Army trounced the Iraqi army in battle only to stumble blindly into postwar turmoil. Then in 2003 the United States did it again. How could this happen? How could the strongest power in modern history fight two wars against the same opponent in just over a decade, win lightning victories both times, and yet still be woefully unprepared for the aftermath? Because Americans always forget the political aspects of war.

Miracle at Midway

Six months after Pearl Harbor, the seemingly invincible Imperial Japanese Navy prepared a decisive blow against the United States. After sweeping through Asia and the South Pacific, Japan's military targeted the tiny atoll of Midway, an ideal launching pad for the invasion of Hawaii and beyond. The United States Navy would be waiting for them. Thanks to cutting-edge code-breaking technology, tactical daring, and a huge stroke of luck, the Americans under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz dealt the Japanese navy its first major defeat of the war.

The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King - The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea

Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. Navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet. In The Admirals, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time.

Exploring Metaphysics

This mind-bending tour of metaphysics applies philosophy to the forefront of today's knowledge. Over the course of 24 fascinating lectures, Professor Johnson thinks through the big questions about humans and the universe: The relationship between the mind and the brain, how consciousness emerges from neurochemical processes, the existence of God, human free will, the possibility of time travel, and whether we live in a multiverse or even a computer simulation.

Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings

Seventy years ago, more than 6000 Allied ships carried more than a million soldiers across the English Channel to a 50-mile-wide strip of the Normandy coast in German-occupied France. It was the greatest sea-borne assault in human history. The code names given to the beaches where the ships landed the soldiers have become immortal: Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and especially Omaha, the scene of almost unimaginable human tragedy.

Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

The dramatic account of one of America's most celebrated - and controversial - military campaigns: the Doolittle Raid. In December 1941, as American forces tallied the dead at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt gathered with his senior military counselors to plan an ambitious counterstrike against the heart of the Japanese Empire: Tokyo.

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Nominee, History, 2013

The planning, the strategy, the sacrifices and heroics - on both sides - illuminating the greatest naval war in history. On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss.

Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative. Ian W. Toll's dramatic narrative encompasses both the high command and the "sailor's-eye" view from the lower deck. Relying predominantly on eyewitness accounts and primary sources, Pacific Crucible also spotlights recent scholarship that has revised our understanding of the conflict, including the Japanese decision to provoke a war that few in the country's highest circles thought they could win. The result is a pause-resistant history that does justice to the breadth and depth of a tremendous subject.

What the Critics Say

“An entertaining, impressively researched chronicle of the tense period between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American victory at the battle of Midway....Toll gives everyone involved in the conflict a chance to speak, bringing readers into the command centers and cockpits to reveal the humanity of combatants on both sides of the Pacific.” (Kirkus)

“Narrator Grover Gardner gives an applaudable narration of this detailed history of the Pacific Theater in WWII…Gardner presents the many historical details in this work with an easygoing pace and precise enunciation that quickly draw in the listener and never let go. Rather than affecting an accent for quotations, he adjusts his inflection slightly, which works well. Novices and history buffs will find this performance a treat and want to hear the continuation of the story.” (AudioFile)

I thought Tull's "Six Frigates" was just of average interest, but "Pacific Crucible" is leaps and bounds beyond that. It's just the kind of narrative history I love: the writer is willing to take time to explore the background and side stories at length without losing the momentum of the story. Tull takes the time to show how the American and Japanese navies came to be shaped and then demonstrates throughout his account of the clashes, beginning with Pearl Harbor and ending with Midway, between them. Like Max Hastings, Tull is adept at interweaving personal accounts with the larger historical view. To me, the ultimate test of an audiobook is whether I'm tempted away to listen to other things: in this case, I was held for over twenty hours without ever once experiencing that temptation. A terrific listen!

I have been reading about World War II for many years, but most of the books I have read cover the war in the European area – North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Poland and Russia. While I have read some books about the war in the Pacific (Stillwell and the American Experience in China, John Keegan’s World War II, Mitsuo Fuchitda’s Midway and some others) none have given a really good view of the war in the entire Pacific area. I bought this book thinking it might fill in some big holes in my knowledge and I was not disappointed.

While the book is concerned mainly about the first year or so of the Pacific war it actually begins with the history of the lead up to War War II starting with the period of the Russo-Japanese war and discusses, in some detail, the political movements in Japan during the period of 1920 through 1941. It provides a great deal of background by discussing events from both the American and Japanese view points and is very helpful in explaining how the Japanese military gained control over the civilian governments during this period and thus paved the way for the war with the US. Indeed one of the things that sets this book apart from others that I have read is that it provides an enormous amount of insight into what the Japanese thinking was both prior to and during the war and there is a great deal of information about things I never knew – the conflict between Japan’s Battleship and Aircraft Carrier officers, the strenuous efforts made by the Treaty Admirals in Japan to prevent war with the US, the reason for some of Japan’s tactical decisions during the conflict and the story (in detail) about the American breaking of some of the Japanese codes. While I thought I knew about the code breaking effort I realized, from this book, how little I knew of how it was done and what happened to the code breaking unit (and to Lt Cmdr Joseph Rochefort) before and after the battle. In addition the book is read by Grover Gardner who does a masterful job of narration. The book is so interesting and so well read that I found myself reluctant to stop listening.

This book is, in my estimate, one of the finest books covering the war that I have read. My only real complaint is that it covers the war only up to the Battle of Midway and I would buy any sequel covering the rest of the war in a heartbeat if it was available. I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in either the history leading up to the start of World War II in the Pacific or the events during the first year of the war.

This book is a marvelous read and the narrator presents well. This is the second book I've listened to by Toll, the first being Six Frigates. Both have been a pleasure to listen to.This is a narrative version of the history of events in the Pacific theater from Tsushima in '05 to Midway in '42.

The story addresses the increase in Japan's Pacific influence, the reasons for the decisions made by Japan and other major countries to move as they did. Major events like Pearl Harbor and the battle of the Coral Sea are covered in fine detail. Many major players are described in detail as well: Nimitz, Yamamoto, Emperor Hirohito, Roosevelt, King, Rochefort, et al. Toll also presents their motivations for consideration insofar as history allows.

All-in-all this is a very well presented story of an important part of the tumultuous first half of the 20th century. Two thumbs way up.Some have complained in these comments about the abrupt ending after Midway. I found the author did a good job of finishing the description of that momentous battle and wrapping up the work. Yet there was much that occurred in the Pacific theater over the next 3 years of the 2nd World War. Maybe Toll is working on his sequel?

Pacific Crucible is a wonderful blend of history and personal accounts. Although the book is obviously factual, it provides the types of interesting details into certain people's lives that made it feel like a story.Do realize, however, that the book details Pearl Harbor through Midway Island only, and does not go further into the Pacific conflict. That should not stop you though. The book provides great detail into the main battles, and main commanders of the Pacific front during this time of the war.I have listened to quite a few books on this period, and have quickly become a fan of Toll and his works. I highly recommend this book.

This book focuses, with some historical digressions, on the naval war in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Midway. If you are a WWII history buff, you have heard the story before, many times, but this still manages to be a fresh and exciting take, with lots of new insights.

Many of these insights are generated because of the way that the author deftly shifts among the perspectives of the Japanese and American sides. Toll manages to bring in many historical figures, never focusing on one for too long: Churchill and Roosevelt, Nimitz and Halsey, Yamamoto and Hirohito; as well as lesser known characters, from code breakers to airmen. Very little of the writing is speculative, instead he draws on the words and records of these people to weave a seamless account of the war.

As a result, he manages to produce the best account I have read about the chaotic way in which Japan came to enter the war, not because of the charismatic Fascism that motivated Italy and Germany, but rather through many small acts of nationalist rebellion. The same approach allows Toll to give the listener a better perspective on how and why strategy evolved the way it did on both sides, both in a grand sense, but also in the individual battles. It is terrifically illuminating.

It is also remarkably engaging. Toll manages, using the words of people who were there, to explain what it was like on a diver bomber plunging at 80 degrees towards a carrier, or to be inside a burning ship, or to be a frustrated commander trying to get an air wing to take off on time. Even though I had read a lot about this phase of the conflict, I was both riveted and managed to learn a lot.

Gardner reads it all in a friendly manner, and I stayed up late listening on more than one occasion. Highly recommended if you like military history, or even just any narrative history done right.

Would you consider the audio edition of Pacific Crucible to be better than the print version?

I only have the audio edition.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Pacific Crucible?

Toll goes into detail on the initial carrier raids of the Marshall Islands. This chapter of the conflict is little known and Toll not only explains the motivations behind the attacks but also how the attacks affected the Japanese High Command.

Which character – as performed by Grover Gardner – was your favorite?

They were all equally good as Gardner sticks to narrating the story instead of trying to guess how a particular character would have sounded.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes. The dedication of the Pearl Harbor cryptanalyst went unnoticed by many at the time. The jealousy of stateside intelligence toward Captain Joseph Rochefort. Most of the cryptanalyst were working for days at a time without rest and only kept awake and alert by the liberal use of amphetamines and coffee.

Any additional comments?

The book is excellent. Toll brings us up to the attack on Pearl Harbor with insightful history of the dealings between Japan and the US from the beginning of the century that give an understanding on how and why such an event took place. Toll then gives a brief description of the already well known attack on Pearl Harbor and then goes into detail of the events and battles which led up to and including Midway. What makes the narrative even better is Grover Gardner. I first listened to Gardner in Shelby Foote's massive The Civil War and never grew tired of his narrative. The same can be said of Gardner's performance with this book. He doesn't try to add accents and the reading is smooth and intelligible throughout.

I have read and watched so many books and docs on war that I doubted I could ever find another title that would really engage me. Needless to say this one did. Firstly the writing is swift, clever and of an unusually high caliber and the narration is excellent and fits the material very well .Secondly the author has done his research extremely well and it really comes through with fascinating wide strokes and highly personal and detailed insights from BOTH sides. I found the insights into the Japanese side utterly fascinating and all new (at least for me).. While I had read numerous accounts of pearl harbor and midway I felt it all new and utterly fascinating through tolls superlative insight of both sides told with his remarkably engaging story telling style.

I use REMARKABLE, FACINATING and ENGAGING quite a lot when reflecting on this book and those three words really sum it all up. HIGHLY RECOMENDED.

I thought this was a fantastic study of Nimitz & other players in the Pacific War. I've read quite a lot of WW2 books and this would be among the books that I'd recommend. The author gives superb details, yet not to the point of overloading the reader (listener.) If you enjoyed "The Pacific" miniseries and want to learn more, this is the book to start with.

Grover Gardener is as always, melodic, and his style flows along smoothly. I didn't speed this book up at all during the listen, and I've only done that for one other book..."Unbroken."

Ian Toll does superb work with this history. The story of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Midway is remarkable. These six months may be the Navy's best. Toll expertly weaves in back story and context, just when you want it. Toll's analysis of the facts struck me as completely authentic. And Grover Gardner does his consistently great narration on this book as well.

I downloaded it because it had Grover Gardener as the narrator & it was a WWII history book – two of my favorite things! Turns out it was so engrossing, it was very hard to put down and hit the pause button. It gave some great new insight into the period from Pearl Harbor to Midway, and I was pretty bummed out when it ended.

Which scene was your favorite?

The background given to each of the Admirals (King, Nimitz, and the others) really brings them to life. In addition, I found the narrative he weaves of the events leading up the Midway and the days of the battle very well done. As usual, Gardener does an extraordinary job of making you feel like he is sitting right there, bringing a story to life and illuminating the text for you. It's very hard to listen to an audiobook by any other narrator once you've just finished a Gardener book.

Any additional comments?

WWII histories are among my favorites, but this one really brought everything to life in a way that not many actually do.

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